


After Project: Lightning Bug

by chiyukiakasuna



Category: Magic: The Gathering
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-31
Updated: 2015-06-05
Packaged: 2018-04-02 06:07:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4049074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chiyukiakasuna/pseuds/chiyukiakasuna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Project Lightning Bug has been disbanded by the Izzet Guildmaster, but that's not the end of Ral Zarek's interactions with the Guildpact, Jace Beleren.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Initial Stirrings

“Well, Zarek?”

“That’s it. Project Lightning Bug is no more. And I’ve been demoted back to just ‘guildmage’.”

“Thank you.”

“For what, Beleren?”

“Hiding my identity.”

“I did it to hide mine, not yours. If Niv-Mizzet knew about…that…I’d lose everything I’ve worked for.”

“Well thank you anyway. You helped more than just yourself, and you know it. I refuse to believe you’re so selfish that you don’t care if I, and the other Planeswalkers on Ravnica, are discovered by Mizzet.”

“I dunno, I could do without Vraska and her meddling…”

Jace laughed, “So could I. Speaking of, I’ve noticed there are quite a few of us on Ravnica… In all my travels, I don’t think I’ve seen such a high concentration of Planeswalkers.”

“Oh?” Ral glared at Jace.

“You, me, Vraska…I have reason to believe a Gruul mage is one of us…that mystery Planeswalker you showed me in the Boros district… Five is quite a lot, even if not all of them are native.”

“Yeah, it is. Why do you think so many Planeswalkers are gathering here?”

“Ravnica has strong magic. I’ve only seen one Plane with stronger mana… That, and Ravnica hosts a wide variety of factions and people, that attracts people who, like myself, are looking for a home…”

“Oh, so more people are coming to my Plane for ‘a home’, coming to fuck up my work?!”

“They’re not doing it to fuck with you, Zarek!”

“Ravnica’s not big enough for all of us!”

“I agree, but-“

“But nothing! You tell those other Planeswalkers to get off my Plane!”

“Some of them are native Ravnicans, like you Zarek. Would you have them leave as well?”

“Well…no, but…”

“I can’t control people who Planeswalk here or away from here. You know that. Ravnica isn’t yours, Zarek. It’s just a Plane.”

“It’s MY Plane! I was born here, raised here, I live and I will die here, Beleren!”

“I understand that-“

“You don’t understand anything, Jace!” Ral huffed, annoyed. Jace just didn’t _get it_.

Jace stood silent for a moment. He looked at the thunder mage. There was no need for mind magic to tell him how Ral felt. “I’m sorry, Ral,” Jace muttered. He turned away from the other Planeswalker. He considered leaving Ravnica at that moment. For some reason, Ral’s constant insistence on Jace not being Ravnican hit the mind mage hard. He believed it, for a moment. But he knew he couldn’t leave, not after becoming the Guildpact. It was impossible for him to leave permanently – Ravnica would fall apart without him.

“Hey.”

The word shocked Jace out of his thoughts, but he couldn’t bring himself to turn back around.

“Look, I’m sorry, Jace. I didn’t mean to…Look, you can stay.”

“Oh, I can stay? So glad I have your permission.”

Ral clicked his tongue. He grabbed Jace’s shoulder and spun him around, “I meant, I…I want you to stay.”

“What?”

Ral chuckled, “What, with all that mind magic you can’t understand what I say?”

“N-no, it’s not that, I just-“Jace fumbled his words. Ral watched a blush add red to the Guildpact’s face.

“Stay here, Jace. On Ravnica. With me.” Ral pulled Jace close.

“Are you coming on to me?” Jace’s voice was offended, but his body sure wasn’t.

“Heh. Yeah, I am. Look, I know you have –er, had- a girlfriend, but…”

“She wasn’t my girlfriend. She was just a friend, who happened to be a girl.”

“Right, but, I don’t know how you swing, but I do know I’d like to swing with you.”

“Well, let’s not do this in public. Why don’t I show you the house the Guilds provided for the Guildpact?”


	2. First Time

The two Planeswalkers approached the end of the Implicit Maze, where the guilds almost dissolved and Jace was declared the arbiter of Ravnica. A medium sized house had been erected behind the arena. It was a humble looking house, nothing like the mansion Ral had been imagining. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t noticed the addition before, but then again his work with the Izzet hadn’t brought him back over here, and it _was_ a rather plain building.

“Here we are.” Jace pulled a small key out of his pocket.

“Is…Is this it?”

Jace turned and smirked. He said nothing and opened the door, beckoning his guest to enter. Ral gave Jace a skeptical look, but entered the building nonetheless. He looked up, and was met with a foyer much larger than expected for such a small house. The decorations were lavish, the rooms were large and full of various expensive looking objects, and the house in general seemed much richer than the outside assumed.

“What is this, Jace? Did you…?”

“I assure you, none of this is my doing. Well, a couple of the rooms I’ve decorated to my tastes, but the rest is all gifts from each guild. They all want to gain my favour. I am, of course, always impartial, but the gifts are nice, to be honest.”

“Wow. What, uh, what has Izzet given you?”

“Besides you?”

“What?!”

Jace chuckled, “Here, I’ll show you.” He led Ral to one of the side rooms. One half of the room was filled with various red and blue things, many of them involving representations of Niv-Mizzet.

“I’ve gotten a lot of signets and generators, among other things. Gold, too, but all the guilds have given me that. Many of the Izzet gifts are... decorated…with Mizzet’s visage, which, to be honest, I’m not too fond of…”

“Yeah, that’s my Guildmaster for you. What are you doing with all this stuff?”

“Well, I’ve modified some of it to amplify my own mind magic. It helps me figure out which guilds are planning to appeal to me at a given time. For instance, I know the Orzhov are planning on sending more favours soon, while the Boros won’t do anything concerning me in the same time span. A lot of it is just going to sit here, to be honest.”

“I see. Well, I’m sick of seeing the dragon’s face, so…”

“Yes, I agree. Let me show you something else.”

“Alright…” Ral suspiciously followed Jace through the halls of the mansion. Jace turned and grabbed Ral’s hand before pulling him through a door at the end of the hall. In the room, Ral realized Jace had pulled him into the master bedroom. Here he could see Jace’s personality come out in the decorations he had chosen for the room. Arcane objects floated around the room, connected by blue mana leylines along the wall. A couple desks, covered in various papers, sat at one end of the room, while a simple bed occupied the other end. An open door on one side led into a large bathroom, which featured a shower and a hot tub. Jace allowed Ral to explore the room, knowing he had to let him satiate his curiosity before anything else.

“Well?”

“Wow… What… What is all this stuff?”

“Personal research. Something for me to do when I’m not being pestered by the guilds or jealous children.”

“So you give yourself more work to do when you’re bored? Wait. Did you just call me a child?!”

“Hahaha! That took you a moment, didn’t it? It’s not work if I enjoy it, Ral.”

“Yeah, you’ve got a point there…” Ral picked up one of the papers on the desk. It featured a crude drawing of a series of rings, which seemed to tower over the mountains drawn next to them. “What is this, Jace?”

“Oh. Uhm. Well, honestly, I don’t know.”

“Did you draw this?”

“Yes. Well, I think I did.”

“How can you not know if you did something?”

Jace sighed. “You know I can’t remember my past. I’ve told you this.”

“You mentioned it in passing…”

“I don’t know what’s in that picture. I think I drew it when I was in a trance, and it’s something from my past. From my homeplane.”

“You don’t know what it is?”

“No. That’s part of why I feel like Ravnica is my home. It’s where my earliest memories take place. I can remember waking up on Ravnica… but nothing before that. Other Planeswalkers I’ve spoken to can remember where they came from. They can remember the event that ignited their Spark. I…can’t. I have one of the strongest minds in the Multiverse, and I can’t remember half of my own life. I can remember other people’s lives, other people’s memories, but not my own. It’s… sadly ironic, I suppose…”

Ral was silent for a minute. “I…I’m sorry, man…”

The two men stood in silence another minute more.

“So, uh, Jace?”

“Yes?” Jace met eyes with Ral.

“Do you, uh… I mean, would you, uh… I uh… I could help you…I mean, if you want…?”

“You… want to help me find my past?”

“Yeah. Uh, if you want, I mean.”

“Yeah, I’d like that, Ral. Thank you…”

Ral put the papers back on the desk. He approached Jace, grabbed him by his cloak, and pulled him close. Their faces hovered in front of each other for a moment, before Ral pecked Jace on the lips. He quickly retreated at the sound of a thunderclap.

“Ow.”

“Ow?”

“You shocked me…” Jace smacked his lips.

“Did I? I didn’t feel anything… Sorry, I guess?”

“There’s a storm outside…”

“Yeah, that was probably me too. Sorry again.”

Jace chuckled. Ral scoffed bemusedly, then said, “I’m going to go now. I… guess I’ll see you later?”

“I’ll see you around, Ral.” Jace pulled Ral back for a second small kiss. Another thunderbolt roared. Sparks literally flew from one man to the other. Both nervously laughed, and Ral turned to leave, taking the thunderstorm with him, as well as Jace Beleren’s heart.

 


	3. Mizzet's Questions

Ral walked through the grand halls of Nivix toward the chamber of his Guildmaster. The guards, both high tech Weirds, appraised him and verified his identity before allowing the magically closed door to open. Ral walked through the doorway and approached the grand dragon. He looked for Mizzet’s advisor, and saw a guildmage he barely recognized. ‘So he got rid of Maree after all,’ Ral thought. Here he had to be careful with his thoughts, as it was the center of the great network of information the Izzet held, the Firemind, and all thoughts that weren’t the Guildmaster’s were difficult to disguise.

“You called for me, Guildmaster?”

“Yes, Zarek, I did. I need to know what you have been doing this past week.”

“Sir? I’ve only done what you’ve asked of me, and things for the guild, as always.”

“I am not stupid, Zarek. I have noticed strange storms forming suddenly around Ravnica. They have to be yours, for who else could create storms so sudden and powerful? A few storms have even been in guildless territory. Are you still working on that old Lightning Bug project, despite my orders to cease it?”

“No sir, I am not. Lightning Bug is over and done with, however I must admit I have continued tracking the Guildpact.”

“I am not against the tracking of the Guildpact. It is your storms that concern me. You are drawing attention to yourself and by extension, to us.”

“With no disrespect, Guildmaster, I am not forming storms on purpose.”

“Are you meaning to tell me you are _accidentally_ creating powerful thunderstorms?”

“Yes, Firemind.”

“What could possibly be distracting you so much that you accidentally create storms?! What are you doing under my snout, Zarek?!”

“Nothing, Firemind, I assure you.” Ral was getting nervous. Things tended to be incinerated when the Firemind gets angry, and Ral found himself accidentally enraging the dragon.

“Nothing?! This is not nothing, Zarek! I need to know how you are messing with my guild!”

“All due respect, Firemind, I am not messing with the guild.”

“Answer me, you vague thing! What have you been doing?!” Niv-Mizzet roared, blue and red flames bursting from his muzzle.

“My lover!” Ral burst out, fearful of the dragon’s rage. “I’ve just been seeing someone, that’s all!”

“A lover.”

“Yes, Firemind, I, uhm. My lover is just... I lose control. I apologize for my carelessness, Firemind.”

“You mean to tell me you have a woman, and she is so beautiful that you lose control of your storm magic, which you have had and honed since you were a young child?”

“I have a male lover, sir, and yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying.”

Niv-Mizzet sighed. “Are you messing with me?”

“No sir.”

“Fine. Figure out a way to control it. Either that, or get rid of her.”

“Him, sir, and I will.”

“You had better. You have one week, or I will fix the problem myself.”

“Yes, Firemind.”

The dragon waved his paw, dismissing Ral. Ral quickly left, glad to be out of Niv-Mizzet’s presence. He hurried out of Nivix. The further he could get from Niv-Mizzet, the better. Ral loved his guild, but it seemed to him that the Guildmaster was watching him more and more closely. He thought he was through with the suspicion after Project Lightning Bug crashed and burned.

He was wrong.


	4. A Meeting With a Sphinx

Jace walked into the tallest spire of New Prahv, his trademark blue cloak flapping behind him. Isperia, the great sphinx and Guildmaster of the Azorius, had summoned him for a consultation. He sighed as he walked. He knew this was part of his new job, to consult with each Guildmaster and make sure their plans didn’t overstep any bounds, but he found it time consuming and often boring. Each guild was usually content to stay within their realms, though certain guilds seemed more aggressive than others – and it wasn’t just the red mana-aligned guilds. Jace kept tabs on each guild, and he knew which ones he’d have to watch the closest. The Azorius was one of them. They wanted to place rules on literally everything, including Jace himself, and while Jace didn’t mind having laws, he did mind the guild’s seemingly unending list of uncompromising and sometimes contradicting or unnecessary laws.

He walked by a group of guildmages and recognized one of them as the former Maze Runner, Lavinia. He nodded politely as he passed her, and she returned the gesture. Jace got the feeling that many of the Maze Runners had no beef with Jace, and had accepted him as the Guildpact. After all, what more could they do? The Guildmasters were miffed, but the Maze Runners could do nothing more than follow orders.

Finally, Jace reached the top of the spire. A grand door, adorned with the Azorius’ guild symbol. Jace thought it looked like a giant eye, looking down upon him and judging him. He supposed that was the point of the design. A sphinx guarded the door. It was much taller than Jace, though nowhere near as large as the Guildmaster herself. It regarded Jace thoughtfully before stepping aside and allowing him to enter Isperia’s chamber.

“Guildmaster Isperia?” Jace’s voice echoed through the large hall.

“Thank you for coming, Guildpact.” The sphinx’s voice filled the room. Jace watched her move from one end of the room to the other, feathers bristling.

“How may I assist you?”

“I would like to know exactly what you think on inter-guild relationships.”

“Pardon?”

“Inter-guild relationships, Guildpact. Say an Azorius guildmage is having an affair with a Simic guildmage. How does one go about policing that? Am I allowed to send in someone to break them up, or may I demote the Azorius mage? I don’t think it’s something that should be…encouraged. So, since this is a matter of inter-guild relations, I figured I should consult you.”

“I’m not sure there’s anything wrong with an inter-guild relationship, per se, however I can see where you find this unsatisfactory. I doubt it’s something that can truly be ‘policed’, however.”

“Why not? I don’t think guilds should be mingling like that. Guildless people are a separate matter, I can see a guildmage and a guildless being ‘together’, but two guildmages of separate guilds leads to possible spies and information leaking. The guilds are separate for a reason.”

“I understand that, Guildmaster. However, guild activity overlaps anyway – for instance the Azorius and the Boros are both trying to keep order on Ravnica. Or the Izzet and the Simic – both working to discover more about how the world works, in their own ways. It may be something I personally have to keep an eye out for, as I, like you, don’t want the guilds to sabotage each other. I don’t think two lovers are that much of a threat, to be honest.”

“But you agree it is something to watch, don’t you?”

“I do, Guildmaster. Please report to me if you have any suspicions about certain members of your own guild. Leave guildmages that are not Azorius alone, please.”

“So I may send you a report if I think the partner of an Azorius mage is stealing Azorius secrets?”

“Yes, Guildmaster. Otherwise, please leave them be. I don’t want you writing some law about anti-inter-guild relationships. I fear it would lead to unrest in the people.”

“Understood, Guildpact. Thank you for your consultation.”

“Thank you for your understanding, Guildmaster Isperia. I shall take my leave now.”

Isperia nodded, and Jace left the room and began the trek down the spire and out of New Prahv.


	5. Maree

Clouds crackled with lightning over the Tenth District. Ral walked through the Undercity, stopping at booths occasionally to buy a loaf of bread, or a bag of spices, or a small cog for his generator projects. His brow furrowed, and lightning struck in the Overcity above him.

“I know you’re following me, Maree.”

A cloaked figure dove behind a booth, thinking they could avoid Ral. Ral easily followed the figure.

“Maree.”

“ _Guildmage_ Maree to you, Zarek.”

“I saw you got demoted.”

“No thanks to you! You and your stupid Lightning Bug project!”

“Hey, that wasn’t my idea. I was just appointed Head Researcher. Mizzet’s the one that wanted to know what the Guildpact is doing.”

“I bet you sabotaged it!”

“What?!”

“You heard me, Zarek! I bet you sabotaged Lightning Bug! I know you were jealous of my appointment to Chamberlain, I bet you did it just to get me demoted, so you could have my spot!”

“Hey, I got demoted too! And Mizzet’s not gonna put me in the Chamberlain spot any time soon – he doesn’t trust me as far as he could throw me…”

“And he shouldn’t! You’re just a jealous baby!”

“Really, Maree? Name calling? Look, I want promotion just as much as the next guy, but I know my place. I’m content to just be a guildmage. It keeps me out of Mizzet’s attentions, after all…”

Maree clicked her tongue and huffed. She looked up at the taller guildmage, annoyance colouring her face. Ral looked back at Maree, and Maree thought he looked very tired all of a sudden. She realized he was right – she realized she had no evidence to back her accusations, and he, like her, was just trying to stay on the dragon’s good side.

“Sorry, guildmage Zarek… I’m just…” She looked away, embarrassed.

“Understandably upset. It’s fine. Here, walk with me.”

“Oh?” She had to almost jog to keep up with the tall man. Ral led her through the Undercity, continuing his modest shopping. “What are all those parts for, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Just some personal projects. Nothing big, just little generator builds and such.”

“Oh. I didn’t know you built.”

“I invented my gauntlets. And many of the generators they react to. Other guildmages have expanded on the design, though.”

“That’s really neat.” Maree found herself blushing. What were these feelings?

“I guess so.” Ral led Maree out of the Undercity and into a housing district. The street was small and the buildings packed with houses stacked on top of houses. Many of the small houses on the street were decorated with guild emblems, most of them Izzet. As the street continued, the houses got larger, but not any less stacked atop each other. The roof of Nivix was visible over the tallest housing complex, and leylines of blue and red lazily flowed through the district, each connected back to the central Firemind. Ral stopped at the door of one of the larger houses.

“Excuse me, Maree.” He left her at the entrance as he dove inside the house. He returned a moment later, his hands empty. “Had to drop off my groceries…”

“Right. So, where are you taking me?”

“Nowhere, really. We’re just walking. I like to do that sometimes.” Ral began walking again.

“Oh. Okay then.” She continued to follow Ral through the streets of Ravnica. They walked in silence, with Maree occasionally asking Ral a question, and always receiving a curt response. Each response from Ral made Maree more and more curious – she wanted to know how Ral ticked, why he walked aimlessly through the streets, why he bought small gears at every booth he saw, where he got the money to buy so many small gears, and why he seemed to have nothing to say, despite the mysteries that surrounded him in Maree’s eyes. Even with the guildmage’s lack of response, Maree found herself wanting to stay with him. He didn’t seem to be pushing her away, but he wasn’t keeping her close either. Maree thought of all the times she had interacted with Ral – they had been on various projects together, and each time they seemed to work together very well, even though they seemed hostile toward each other. Maree thought maybe it was the beginning of something. The sun began to set, and Ral began to walk quicker.

“Guildmage Zarek?”

Ral didn’t answer. It seemed to Maree he was trying to get somewhere before the sunlight was completely gone. His pace was faster, and Maree thought he was trying to get away from her. She wasn’t going to let that happen, she had to know what Ral was doing. Ral had secrets, and Maree wanted answers. Alleyways passed by in a blur, and Maree soon found herself following Ral into the Guildless district, and to the great stadium that was the end of the Implicit Maze. What was the significance of this place to Ral? Why was he running here? She knew he had wanted to be the guild’s Maze Runner – to the point where he had destroyed Melek for the position, but the Maze was long over, the Guildpact had been reinstated, all of that was over. Perhaps, for Ral, it wasn’t, Maree stipulated.

Maree heard Ral mumble, “Where is he…?”

“Who is ‘he’, guildmage Zarek?”

Again, Ral neglected to answer. Both Izzet mages noticed a dark figure leaning against one of the guild bases. They both froze, each wondering who the figure was. The figure moved toward them. It was wearing a dark cloak of thick fabric, with a hood covering its face.

“Is that…the Guildpact?”

As the person drew close to the pair, they lowered their hood to reveal it was, in fact, the Guildpact.

“Hello Ral,” Jace smiled at him. He noticed Maree, and nodded politely at her, “Hello to you as well. I’m afraid I don’t know your name…”

“Guildmage Maree, sir.” She felt as if Jace was attempting to be intimidating, but was failing. She didn’t like how she felt when Jace approached Ral, as if it were an insult directly to her when he addressed Ral so casually.

The men drew close, and Jace gave Ral a small kiss on the cheek. Maree felt even more insulted, and she realized why. She had assumed the day she spent walking with Ral had meant something, as if she had been forming a bond with Ral. She thought all the times she had worked with Ral, with him getting less and less hostile each time, may have meant she had something with him. And she had been proven wrong.

“Wh-what’s going on?!”

“Oh fuck…” Ral muttered.

“I knew it!”

“Maree, don’t start this…”

“No, I knew it! You _did_ sabotage Lightning Bug! You sabotaged the research so we wouldn’t know about you and him!

“I didn’t sabotage the project.”

“Oh, I know you did, you just proved you did! And just wait until Niv-Mizzet hears about your insubordination!”

“A kiss proves nothing,” Ral hissed.

Maree immediately turned and began running back towards Nivix, her movements enhanced by lightning-magic weaved through her boots. Jace snapped his fingers in her direction and a blast of blue mana flew from his hand and surrounded her head. She paused mid-run, then continued on her way, now walking calmly.

“You erased her memories.”

“Changed them. Easier to explain if there’s not a chunk of memory missing. She now thinks she got lost while looking for you, and decided to go home when the sun set.”

“Oh.”

“We’ll have to be more careful, then. I apologize, I didn’t realize she was close enough to Mizzet to be able to report things like that to him…”

“She’s not. Not anymore. She used to be his Chamberlain, but I suppose she got demoted at the same time I did, when Lightning Bug ‘failed’.”

“I see. Do you think she thought it would earn her position back if she bad-mouthed you?”

“Probably.”

“Well, again, I apologize, Ral. I don’t mean to do things that may ruin your position…”

“I know you don’t. You’re just a clueless stranger, aren’t you, Jace?”

“Oh, I suppose so. Let’s go inside, Ral, it looks like a storm is brewing…”

“That’s just-“Ral noticed the look on Jace’s face, telling him the avoidance of rain was just a cover up, “-right. Let’s go inside.”


End file.
